[Williamsen] also hints Lexus will be expanding its role within motorsports, citing the 2012 and 2013 entries of the IS-F in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb challenge as a good sign that racing will become a bigger part of Lexus’ future.

“In the premium luxury segment, there is a strong motivation among buyers to pay attention to performance,” Williamsen says, noting greater motorsports participation could be an important selling tool for distributors and dealers.

The [RC F] also benefits from knowhow gained from racing at the Nurburgring with the Lexus IS F CCS-R race spec, which undercut the production IS F’s curb weight by some 650 pounds. We can look forward to seeing race versions of the RC F on tracks from Suzuka to Nurburgring to Laguna Seca as new internationally standardized Europe-Japan-U.S. race regulations come into play by 2017.

I was always surprised that the LFA was never used in racing outside of the Nürburgring VLN series in Germany, but this new coupe could mark a new chapter in Lexus racing — the RC nameplate is short for “Racing Coupe”, after all.